National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan

The History of Old Julius Mannich Merchant
House:Julius
Mannich was a German businessman who set up business in Anping and the Shao
Chuan Tou area of Kaohsiung. Like most of the other traders in Tainan, he
specialized in the camphor and sugar trades. Construction began on his merchant
house in Anping in 1875, a few years after fellow companies like Tait & Co. Most
of these companies enjoyed success for the decades they were in operation up
until Taiwan was ceded to Japan in 1895. The cession rendered the Treaty of
Tianjin meaningless, but the Japanese did not immediately remove the foreign
merchants. They simply made life difficult for them by making the trade of
camphor and opium a government business.Julius Mannich & Co. folded, and in 1901, the Japanese turned the
merchant house into the Anping District Office. In 1920, the building became a
police office. After the arrival of the KMT, the house was used as the dormitory
of the salt works manager. Since 1986, the Julius Mannich Merchant House has
been a small museum. A beer garden style restaurant was added a few years ago.